It's certainly not rocket science. It's "Chuck logic". And I'm sharing it with you. There's no overall theme. It may even be a bit chaotic, but I think it might be entertaining. If it fails to tickle your fancy, enlighten your mind, graze your loin, excite your sense of adventure, or allow you to breathe a simple sigh of relief, then I promise I'll resign the noble way and take a page from our Japanese brethren. My goal is to broadcast my mind and have you like it.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Hangovers And Hang Ups

Reporter: "Is there any advice you'd like to give to the kids out there who may be watching this interview, Mr. Creed?"

Apollo Creed: "Stay in school, and use your brain! Be a doctor. Be a lawyer. Carry a leather briefcase. Forget about sports as a profession. Sports will make you sweaty and smelly. Be a thinker - not a stinker!"

It doesn't matter how many times AMC airs the Rocky movie series because more than likely I'll watch it every chance I can. And that goes for the film that started it all, too. The first Rocky movie may in fact be riddled with terrible acting from the entire cast all the way down to the bartender at The Lucky Seven Tavern. And it may in fact feature very awkward displays of social interaction which includes the majority of the dialogue between Rocky and Adrian, but Sylvester Stallone's breakthrough screenplay abruptly ended his amateur pornography career and is the embodiment of one of many versions of the American dream.

My understanding is that Rocky was born after a 72 hour coffee binge immediately following the Muhammed Ali - Chuck Wepner fight. Stallone sold it and became an instant success.

There was a time not so long ago when I thought that I had already watched every movie that I should see in my lifetime. Then I discovered Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, The Cohen Brothers, etc., etc. I saw that there were plenty of great movies out there if you look hard enough. And I've been really inspired to write something. And watch more. I was thinking that for the next little while I would try on a different hat and go back in time a bit to explore Clark Gable starting with the movie Mogambo which stars Gable alongside Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly.

I feel like going on one of those coffee binges and writing something substantial. I don't know about you, but I've always thought that I was born in the wrong time period. Maybe it's all this technology that's at our fingertips. And I know that sounds weird. Technology is supposed to be a good thing, but that's very debateable. You can make cases for technology advances in the medicine field, space exploration, and so on - but I think technology has an absurd way of cutting people off. And I know that sounds weird, too.

So I feel like finishing a screen play. And I will. I know I will. Because that was all part of my New Year's resolution. Then I think about what happens after it's written. Where do you go from there? I feel like expectations are getting higher and higher, too. It's all that technology being thrown around.

The idea of being a writer, novelist, actor, comedian, - a performer, if you will - has always plagued me. It's a piece of my American dream. It's what makes me a perfect candidate for a modern retelling of Death of a Salesman. I'm a dreamer. I covet the American dream. And it's thinking like that that gets in the way of reality sometimes.